Energy costs constitute the highest percentage of production cost, with the cement industry consuming approximately15 million toe (tonne of oil equivalent) per year, or about 9 per cent of total industrial fuel used.

ABB is at the forefront of offering integrated solutions for the cement sector including scalable automation solutions. Understanding user needs and making products user friendly are among the company's success factors, says Manish Chordia.

Refractory selection is the most important step for the maximisation of its performance. The major deciding factor for refractory selection is the working or operating environment where the refractory would be used.

To keep open a realistic chance of meeting the target of restricting the global average rise in temperature below 20C, as envisaged in the Paris COP21, intensive and innovative actions are required by the cement industry, which happens to be a significant contributor to the total anthropogenic emission of CO2.

Cement terminals which are away from an integrated plant serve as important distribution points in the overall business. Cement manufacturers are either setting up their own terminals or are sharing them with other companies.

Robotic Labs and Expert Optimiser Systems are becoming standard requirements of cement plants. Considerable attention is being paid to automation as a built-in facility at the planning stage of a cement plant.